A point to ponder...

[AndyL]

Can I be honest? What a crock!

I don't think any of us exclusively shop online, in most cases some of the bigger hardware purchases are from e-vendors, as the local shops can be more than double the price. But the majority of us still shop local for livestock (some exceptions, but generally that's because it's not something found locally).

If they want our buisness, they need to be reasonably priced, they need a decent inventory, and be willing to do special orders. Many of our local shops aren't, they can't expect undivided loyalty if they aren't willing. Virtually all of my hardware comes from one shop, my current livestock was litterally split between all 4 (now 3) stores. The one's which had the stock I wanted, at a price I was willing to pay, got the buisness... Those which didn't - didn't.

We're going to see even more pressure put on the local shops, look at edmonton's recent explosion of online retailers based in edmonton. I'm sure calgary is going to see the same in the not too distant future.

Andy